


Like Vega and Altair

by JKiryu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Tanabata
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 19:19:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9339437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JKiryu/pseuds/JKiryu
Summary: It was easy to get lost in the crowd, especially if you wanted to observe every facet of the festival; younger people's loud voices mixed with the music in a pleasant and familiar hubbub, blending with the sound of drums in the distance and the gentle plucking of notes on the shamisens strings that created a mystical and ancient atmosphere, painting smiles and mesmerized expressions on everyone's faces.All that would have usually been enough for Matsukawa Issei, but that night not even the atmosphere of the festival could distract him from his thoughts; that night, in fact, he had decided to gather his courage and take that step forward that would have drastically changed everything.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Brief Update: I'm currently working on chapter 15 of MTAE, don't worry! This is just an old work that I decided to post here on Ao3 <3

The Tanabata festival had started two days ago in Sendai, and among the shops of Chuo Street and Higashi Ichibanchou Street an endless variety of decorations coloured that summer evening filled with music, laughter and fun. People came and went quiet like a stream, clad in their bright yukatas, intent to admire the bamboo tangles that stretched over their heads. Long strips of multicolored paper dangled from colorful spheres like infinite ribbons lulled by the summer breeze, intertwining and creating a whirlwind of nuances as far at the eye could see, and giving the impression, along with paper cranes and a thousand other ornaments weaving patterns of all kinds, of being in a real bamboo forest dyed with the colors of the rainbow.

It was easy to get lost in the crowd, especially if you wanted to observe every facet of the festival; younger people's loud voices mixed with the music in a pleasant and familiar hubbub, blending with the sound of drums in the distance and the gentle plucking of notes on the shamisens strings that created a mystical and ancient atmosphere, painting smiles and mesmerized expressions on everyone's faces.

All that would have usually been enough for Matsukawa Issei, but that night not even the atmosphere of the festival could distract him from his thoughts; that night, in fact, he had decided to gather his courage and take that step forward that would have drastically changed everything.

 

«Come on Iwa-chan, what's the big deal!»

Oikawa appeared from a tangle of pale pink and white stripes with a pout on his lips and a look that seemed to silently beg the guy in front of him. His hazel eyes were faintly lit by a lantern, which brought out his perfect features, among the delicate colors of the decorations that draped over his hair and shoulders like a small, lightweight paper curtain.

«No way, forget it.» Iwaizumi crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the other. «I'm not taking a picture with you in front of everyone, get that right out from your empty head!»

«But it's just a picture!»

«Do you want to understand that this stuff is for children?»

«Who decided that?!»

« _I_ did!»

A deep sigh rose behind them, coming from one of the two guys who Oikawa and Iwaizumi had probably forgotten about, too caught up in their umpteenth quarrel. Not that the two childhood friends were behaving unusually, but they were attracting so many looks from passersby that Hanamaki felt obliged to intervene, but not before exchanging a knowing glance with Matsukawa.

«I'll tell you what's childish, the fact that you're walking around together with coordinated yukatas. You're not teenage girls, you should be ashamed.»

«Hey, Hanamaki. We should pretend not to know them, what do you think?» Matsukawa asked with a neutral expression.

«I'm in. My reputation can still be saved and I don't intend to throw it to the wind for them.»

Hanamaki stifled a grin when Oikawa and Iwaizumi turned at the same time with shocked expressions. They'd been mocking their choice of attire since the beginning of the evening, but neither Matsukawa nor Hanamaki seemed tired of that joke – and they would probably never be.

«Makki! Mattsun! Why are you so cruel, we've done nothing wrong!» whined Oikawa, before he was stopped by Iwaizumi's harsh tone.

«How many times do I have to repeat that it was his idea? Don't look at me!»

«But you said yes, right?» Matsukawa twisted the knife in the wound.

«You have no idea what I had to endure!»

«Iwa-chan, I didn't force you!!» Oikawa puffed out his cheeks.

«Really? You even blackmailed me!»

«Oh?» Matsukawa's interest suddenly awoke. «What kind of dirt do you have on him?»

«Yeah, what kind?» Hanamaki leaned on Matsukawa, who for a moment rested his eyes on his friend's face, then returned to stare at Iwaizumi and Oikawa, who seemed about to scream, each for different reasons. Particularly, Oikawa looked really offended by Iwaizumi's accusations, so much that he pushed the strips of paper away to exit the cascade of colors and put his hands on his hips in irritation, staring at the group. «First of all, shut up! It's tradition for this kind of festivals to dress in a certain way, not like you two, who wore shorts and shirt!» He exclaimed, pointing at Matsukawa and Hanamaki, who reciprocated with peeved expressions. «And I wouldn't stoop so low as to use blackmail, I'm not that kind of person!»

«And after hearing this, I can leave.» Hanamaki gave Matsukawa a light pat on the arm, and without flinching the latter started to walk off, adding, «There's nothing to see here, let's bounce.»

«Mean! You're mean, all of you!»

 

Despite Oikawa's protests and Iwaizumi's complaints, who was already tired of suffering his best friend's whims, the four of them resumed their walk on the main street of the festival, among the crowd and the music that filled the starry night. The air between them might have seemed the same as always, with their endless banter and friendly provocations, but that night something was different, something almost imperceptible in the attentive looks and the studied movements of one of them in particular.

Matsukawa was the kind of person who preferred to observe than to be observed. It had always been a character trait of his, one that Oikawa had more than once recognized – often commenting on how scary that made him look – and he couldn't deny that such a description fit him like a glove. On the court it was his job to study the opponents when the libero took his place, trying to figure out schemes and intentions in order to win the match, and it didn't take him long to realize that he kept that habit in everyday life, too. Matsukawa was cunning and intuitive – certainly not at Oikawa's levels, who he considered to be too insightful for his liking – but he preferred to keep to himself the conclusions he drew, hiding his solid discretion behind a thick layer of irony.

«Hey.» Hanamaki's voice made Matsukawa look up and turn to him as he walked by his side. «Don't talk too much, otherwise I'll get deaf.»

«What, are you missing my voice?»

Hanamaki rolled his eyes with a sigh and shook his head. He nudged slightly Matsukawa and gave him a small smile, a mixture of amusement and irritation.

«I was just afraid that you'd become a mute.»

He was answered with a laugh, then Matsukawa shoved his hands in his pants pockets.

«I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I still need my voice.»

«How would I do without hearing it every day of my life?»

«I know that you'd miss it.»

«Don't doubt that.»

They both knew that Matsukawa had never been a talkative guy, so it was clear that it hadn't been his silence that had brought Hanamaki to say something like that. In those few centimeters that separated them as they walked side by side, in the faint tension Matsukawa felt whenever Hanamaki was so close, there was something that went far beyond their relationship as teammates. In those centimeters, so few and so scary, there were years of silent understanding, of exchanged glances and pats on the back that Matsukawa had often hoped could become hugs. There were jokes, pranks between friends, moments of nervousness, and that omnipresent irony behind which the two boys hid what they really wanted to say, knowing that they would understand each other anyway without the need to externalize what they actually thought. Even that time, in fact, Hanamaki must have noticed something was off, in the way Matsukawa seemed lost in his own thoughts more than usual, almost as if he wasn't even there with them.

_He's got a point,_ Matsukawa thought.

It was handy to have that understanding, but as time had passed, those centimeters separating them had become heavier and heavier. Even if Matsukawa could understand most of Hanamaki's attitudes, soon he'd found himself in a dead end, alone with his uncertainties and the feelings he'd been harbouring for more than a year. Those centimeters between them felt like an insurmountable river to him. Whenever they were side by side, Matsukawa wanted to reach out and erase that distance he could no longer stand. He was tired of hiding his desperate cry behind smiles and fleeting glances, exhausted by his constant attempts to reach Hanamaki on the other side of that imaginary wall that separated them; he wanted to hug the boy who, despite being so close, at the same time felt so far. He wanted to hold him, to finally being able to say _I'm here with you_.

Matsukawa sighed, looking again at Hanamaki, who was absentmindedly trying to figure out what Iwaizumi and Oikawa were talking about. He took the opportunity to let his gaze linger, his heartbeat quickening at the thought that that night would have been the decisive one. Despite his usual calm in facing any situation, that thought made him feel anxious. Maybe he was deluding himself, perhaps he had misread Hanamaki's signals, but even if that had been the case, he knew he couldn't keep pretending any longer.

«Hanam-»

«HALT!»

Matsukawa cursed for an instant Oikawa's perfectly timed interruption, before deciding to put any attempt of approaching Hanamaki on hold and pay attention to his captain – who was staring at the two of them with his arms crossed over his chest.

«I have an idea,» Oikawa said, with a grin that, after that interruption, Matsukawa just found annoying. «Since Iwa-chan doesn't want to follow the Tanabata rules and make a wish-»

«I wonder why, Shittykawa.» Iwaizumi snorted and looked over the road. They had arrived at the intersection with Jozenji Street, without even realizing how much they had walked.

«IWA-CHAN!»

«Please, don't start again,» said Hanamaki, raising his arms in surrender. «You know that I love to see you fight like husband and wife, but tonight you're being unbearable, so let's go straight to the point.»

Oikawa glanced to his best friend with a pout, then, after letting out a long sigh, he continued to speak, regaining his cheerful tone.

«Let's go to Kotodai Park!»

«What does that have to do with the wishes?» Matsukawa asked, raising an eyebrow. Oikawa shrugged, not even trying to think about a convincing answer.

«I don't know, I just want to go there! There are food stands!»

«So you were trying to blame me with that stupid excuse of making wishes?!» Iwaizumi snapped suddenly, and Hanamaki almost laughed at his awful expression. Even Matsukawa giggled, waiting without interrupting that the two of them ended their umpteenth skit.

«Well, we can do that too, I didn't say that it was just an excuse!»

«But you just said the opposite!»

«So? I changed my mind!»

«Do you realize that what you're saying doesn't make any sense, Trashykawa?!»

«Prove it!»

«All right, stop it!» Again, Hanamaki silenced them both, stepping forward to get between them and end that quarrel. «Listen to me now.»

«But-» Hanamaki raised his index finger to silence Oikawa, then turned towards Iwaizumi.

«No buts, I'm gonna decide this time. We'll go to the park and we'll write those damn tanzakus, at least we can wish to get rid of Oikawa once and for all.»

«You'd never write something like that, what kind of friend would you be?!» retorted Oikawa.

«Is this a challenge?» Matsukawa grinned, amused. «Did you hear that? I think Oikawa is challenging you.»

«Iwaizumi, do you think that if we write the same wish three time it's more likely to come true?» asked Hanamaki. Iwaizumi seemed to think about it seriously, of course, just to annoy his best friend.

«We can always try.»

This time Oikawa didn't even reply and puffed angrily while he was already heading towards their new destination, mumbling words such as "ungrateful", or "you will pay for this". The three behind him exchanged glances of complicity, held back a laugh, then resumed to walk along the way of Kotodai Park, following their captain.

«Do you have a wish in particular?» asked Matsukawa to Hanamaki, trying to recover the conversation that just before has been interrupted. Not that he really had anything in particular to say – except of course that _little_ confession about his feelings – but it was always nice to talk with the person you liked. Matsukawa loved to see those little changes on Hanamaki's expression, those imperceptible pauses that he took when he did not want to admit to being embarrassed, or simply that almost arrogant smirk when he was proud of his own jokes. They were stupid details, but adorable for those who knew how to look.

«Maybe.» As he walked, Hanamaki looked away, trying to casually keep the focus in front of him.

«Maybe?» Matsukawa just grinned. «Maybe like "I have no idea", or maybe like "I know it very well, but I'll never tell you"?»

«Maybe like _maybe_ , genius.»

«And you, Iwaizumi?»

«I have some ideas, but nothing special. I'll decide on the spot.» Iwaizumi shrugged, while Hanamaki turned back toward Matsukawa, stretching his lips into a sly grin.

«What about you? Do you have some good wishes in that head of yours?»

Matsukawa smiled.

«Maybe.»

 

It did not take long to reach the park across the street, which was illuminated by lanterns and colored decorations. The air was full of summer humidity and scents of all kinds, accompanied by music that reached the four boys' ears muffled by the chatter that even within that open space continues unabated, despite in that place the number of people was decidedly lower. After the central square, along one of the walkways, tall bamboo poles lined the street, intertwined with bright strands from which hung origamis and small strips of paper on which, with a quick glance, Matsukawa saw all sorts of phrase inscribed in ink black. He could lose hours trying to guess the type of person who had expressed every wish written on those tanzakus; tourists, first of all, immediately identifiable by the use of Western characters, the graceful handwriting of the female students with whom timidly asked the realization of an impossible love, or the hard signs of the kanjis of adult men who hoped for a better career.

«Listen to this. "I would like to not be forced to express this wish, I hate my friends". Iwaizumi, is this you by any chance?» Hanamaki chuckled, crouching to read better while Iwaizumi just bent forward to put his hands on his knees and scroll with his eyes the wishes written on the strips of paper.

«"I wish my wish will come true". Judging by cleverness, this instead sounds like you.» Iwaizumi grinned satisfied when he saw Hanamaki's shocked and offended face, who maybe did not expect such a response. Matsukawa approached the two and, standing, he began to read a few words here and there in silence. Not that he wanted to find something fun – or maybe yes, after all the need was strong – but he hoped that some phrase could help him to better express his wish.

Oikawa was the one to recapture for a moment the attention, announcing enthusiastically that he was going to buy tanzakus for everyone – adding and pointing out how kind and caring was his gesture. Others simply nodded without giving him too much satisfaction and resumed probing between the multitudes of handwritings in front of them once they were alone, letting go Oikawa with his resigned sigh.

«What would you do if you discovered that someone has made a wish about you?» Matsukawa asked casually.

«What do you mean?» Iwaizumi turned to the source of that question, like did Hanamaki from his lower position, staying crouched on the ground.

«I don't know, I speak in general.»

«I'm not that popular, ask Oikawa. Surely he will know how to answer.» Iwaizumi clicked his tongue as he scrambled in a standing position, annoyed by his own words.

«It was just a guess, I'm not saying that has to really happen. Something like a repressed hatred, or particular admiration.» Matsukawa allowed himself a brief pause, feeling on edge since he perceived Hanamaki's inquisitive gaze upon himself, without the need of having to turn to confirm it. «Or a not confessed love.»

«It depends,» answered simply Iwaizumi. «I'd be flattered... I think. In the hate case, I'll wait that this person will face me.»

«I pity that person.» Matsukawa chuckled. He looked down at Hanamaki, which strangely had not yet spoken, and he would be a liar if he said he did not feel agitated to see that the other was still staring. However, the latter smiled and propped his elbow on one leg, resting his chin on the corresponding hand.

«What, are you hoping for it? Is this why you're reading all those wishes so attentively?» Hanamaki asked with that same sly smile. Matsukawa looked away and sighed.

«Of course not.» _I'm hoping for something else,_ he thought, as he placed a hand on his hip. Then he stared at Hanamaki and returned the friend's expression with a similar one. «Rather, you have not answered me yet.»

«What should I answer you? It never happened, so I don't know!»

«But it's not difficult to imagine,» said Iwaizumi.

«Like I said, I don't know!» repeated instead Hanamaki, getting up and crossing his arms over his chest. «But I don't think that it would make me shake that much.»

«Not even with a confession?» Matsukawa tried to insist, but he had to admit to himself that the answer he received surprised him more than he thought possible.

«Especially a confession.» Even Iwaizumi stared confused at Hanamaki. Matsukawa wanted to ask for an explanation, but fortunately he was his friend to keep talking. «Do not look at me like that, I'm not crazy. It's just that I'm not interest in any confession, that's all.»

«Do you already have someone you like then?» Iwaizumi grinned, but even if Matsukawa expected the answer to that question, it never came. Oikawa in fact interrupted again the discussion – and at that point Matsukawa wondered what his captain would be able to do to be hated even more that night – handing out colorful tanzakus for his friends and a black marker for each one of them.

«We write and read them all together in the end?» Oikawa suggested with a beaming smile.

«Anything to make you calm down,» replied Hanamaki, anticipating Iwaizumi who had already shot dead Oikawa in one glance.

Matsukawa sighed, looking from the corner of his eye his friends who had already started writing. Oikawa and Iwaizumi seemed focused as they filled the tanzaku, unlike Hanamaki that seemed all too pleased.

He envied them. He wanted to express his true wish in a clear and concise way, but it did not take a genius to figure out that it would never be possible. He started looking a bit around for some inspiration that could solve his problem, then looked up to the sky. It was at that moment, looking at the stars, that it occurred to him what he was looking for, which brought immediately on the strip of paper.

«Who wants to start?» Oikawa clutched the tanzaku to his chest, ready to be hung on the bamboo poles. «Iwa-chan?»

«You first.»

«Together?» Oikawa said, trying to move him to pity in every way. Iwaizumi sighed.

«All right. Come on, hang that damn wish and make sure that it was worth it.»

The two of them just lowered to intertwine their two tanzakus to a night blue wire that shone under the artificial light. When they distance themselves to read what they had written, laughs rose up behind them, those of Matsukawa and Hanamaki who could not believe what they were reading.

« _"Let's win against Ushiwaka"_. Really? And both of you have written the same thing!» Hanamaki could barely contain himself.

«I am embarrassed for you.» Matsukawa chuckled, putting a hand to his lips. Iwaizumi could not just stay calm; for the shame, and because Oikawa was looking at him with a strange pride in his eyes.

«Shut up, it's a wish like any other, there is nothing to laugh about it!»

«Iwa-chan, I love you!»

«Shut the fuck up you too!!»

«All right, all right, now it's my turn!» Hanamaki stepped forward, approaching a scarlet thread that was hanging a little higher than the one used by Iwaizumi and Oikawa. «Since Matsukawa is so keen to find someone who will mention him in a wish, as the good friend that I am, I did it!»

The tanzaku said _"I hope Matsukawa-senpai will notice that I exist"_ , signed with a little heart. Hanamaki seemed even too proud of his work, not even imagining how he made Matsukawa feel with what apparently seemed joking words.

«Did I miss anything while I was away?» Oikawa asked, confused.

«More of their usual nonsense,» replied Iwaizumi. «And to be honest I don't know whether to be amused or disturbed.»

«I'm honoured, but I've already noticed that you exist.» Matsukawa'd heart had almost missed a beat when he read that wish, but he obviously couldn't and didn't want to let it show. «Even if I'm not your senpai.»

«I'm swooning.»

«Correction, I'm definitely disturbed,» said Iwaizumi.

«Your turn, Mattsun!» Oikawa clapped his hands together, but that enthusiasm turned to puzzlement when Matsukawa finished hanging his wish next to Hanamaki's. To tell the truth, even the other two were dumbfounded, not understanding their friend's choice at all.

_"I wish that Orihime and Hikoboshi can be reunited tonight."_

«Well, it's... poetic?» Oikawa stared at Matsukawa for a moment, trying to understand the intentions behind that perpetually bored expression . «I wasn't expecting that.»

«Me neither, but it's a nice thought,» added Iwaizumi. «Are you close to traditions?»

«Yes and no.» Matsukawa smiled, throwing without even noticing a fleeting glance at Hanamaki, who was staring at him in silence. «But I like the story of Tanabata.»

Oikawa broke into a grin, taking a step toward Matsukawa to face him slyly.

«Mattsun is a romantic at heart and wanted to hide it from us!»

«I don't think I am.»

«It's still a beautiful legend. Sad, but beautiful.» Iwaizumi folded his arms across his chest as if nothing happened.

«It depends on the point of view, it could have ended up worse for the two lovers. Seeing each other once a year is still better than being apart forever.» Oikawa put his thumb and forefinger to his chin, in a thoughtful gesture. «Think about the instant in which the barriers that separate them finally come down, letting them rejoin after so long. For them, I think that time together is worth every day spent waiting for a dream.»

_Lucky them_ , Matsukawa thought before answering.

«And he said _I'm_ the romantic. Did you hear yourself?»

«It's just a façade to fool those poor girls,» sighed Iwaizumi.

«Are you mad at me or something tonight? I haven't done anything to you!» whined Oikawa.

«No, but your attitude irritates me.»

«Is that supposed to make me feel better?!»

«I swear, I-» Iwaizumi was going to say something very rude judging by his expression, but Hanamaki's tired look probably changed his mind. He sighed, then said, «Okay, I'll stop. But you, stop acting like a brat.»

«I'll stop if you buy me a candy apple.»

«I just told you to stop acting like a brat!»

«Come on!!»

Matsukawa looked at his exasperated friend with a strange pleasure. Seeing how long Iwaizumi could stand Oikawa before freaking out was one of his favourite pastimes, but tonight even their vice-captain seemed inclined to put aside his usual temper in favor of a little compassion. Matsukawa had noticed that sympathetic look towards Oikawa, because normally he would have just yelled at his best friend. In fact, when Iwaizumi spoke with more confidence, Matsukawa was not surprised at all.

«Alright, but after that you'll have to stop, seriously.» That said, Iwaizumi walked up the driveway, heading back to the open space where the food stands had been set up. Oikawa followed him all too happily, and it was only when he ordered the other two to wait for them, that Matsukawa became really aware of the situation.

He was alone. With Hanamaki.

Instinctively he turned to the other, who had been silent until then. He didn't know why Hanamaki was being so quiet, or why he kept staring at him in that way, but it only increased Matsukawa's anxiety, already worried about the slightest out of place gesture. They ended up holding eye contact for what seemed like hours, before he found the courage to speak up.

«Why are you staring at me like that?» He only managed to ask, enchanted by the intensity of Hanamaki's gaze. The latter shrugged, then pointed to the steps of the staircase in the center of the park.

«I wondered why you wished for such a thing, amongst everything you could have written on that tanzaku. Do you want to sit down?»

Matsukawa nodded, following Hanamaki.

«I don't know. I had nothing in mind, then I looked at the sky and felt inspired.»

«The sky?» Hanamaki asked, confused.

«The stars of Vega and Altair... like the legend.» Matsukawa put his hand on his neck, ruffling his hair.

«Yeah, I forgot.» Hanamaki sighed. «I find it weird, though. _You_ have been weird tonight.»

_Is it so noticeable?_

«It's just your impression.»

«Wow, I'm shocked by the originality of this answer. I need to sit down, I'm too upset by this turn of events to stand.» Hanamaki climbed a dozen steps before sitting next to the wall at the side of the wide stone stairway, staying in the shadows and away from the buzz of the festival. Matsukawa smiled and sat down next to him, keeping that small distance between them that he hated so much.

«Feel better now? I wouldn't want to give you too many emotions tonight.» Oh, how he hoped it would be the other way around.

«Definitely better.» Hanamaki stretched his legs in front of him, placing his hands next to either side of his body. «Anyway, are you really saying that you wasted a wish for that crap? Seriously?»

«Do you really believe in that wishes story? Come on, it's just a game. And look who's talking.»

Hanamaki was taken aback for a moment – which Matsukawa noticed, adding it to the endless list of signals that continued to get his hopes up – then he looked away.

«It was a joke.» _Yes, as usual_. «But you seemed very taken while you were explaining your reasons to Iwaizumi and Oikawa. Or am I wrong?»

Matsukawa laughed, hiding the discomfort that the series of questions was causing him.

«Is this an interrogation?»

«Of course, I even have an official badge.»

«That changes everything, but what am I charged with?»

Hanamaki fell silent again, then sighed, breaking that playful exchange that lasted only for a brief moment.

«Nevermind.»

 

A weird silence fell between the two, like it never happened before. It wasn't hard to notice how the atmosphere among them was heavy, but Matsukawa couldn't explain exactly why. He could understand the emotional turmoil on his side, knowing what he felt, but that was not what was making the air so tense, he was sure. He found himself resting his arms on his own legs and leaning against them with a sigh, staring at an indefinite point in front of him. Anything to avoid meeting the eyes he feared would make him slip up.

 

«Matsukawa.»

He turned around when he heard that voice calling him. He noticed that even Hanamaki was staring at nothing in the distance, lost in his thoughts.

«What?»

«Do you really like the story of Tanabata that much?»

Matsukawa didn't understand the meaning of that question, but he committed himself to answer truthfully anyway.

«Let's say that on a night like this it's hard not to think about it.»

Hanamaki nodded.

«What was the story about, exactly?»

«You really don't remember? You must have at least heard it at school when you were a child, right?»

«Only a little.» He didn't know why he was doing it, but Matsukawa knew immediately that Hanamaki wasn't telling the truth. But he preferred to play along, curious to know where the other was headed. «I just remember the ending. Was it something related to the stars?»

_You know that very well_ , thought Matsukawa, but sighed and snorted a laugh.

«What, you want me to tell you, by any chance?»

«Let's see if you're a good storyteller.»

He certainly didn't think that Hanamaki would have really accepted.

The two finally exchanged a look, a look of understanding before Matsukawa glanced again somewhere else, to the sky to be exact.

«Okay, let's see... there was this girl, Orihime, who lived on the banks of the Heavenly River. These two elements are represented by the star Vega and the Milky Way, since _you didn't know_.» Matsukawa cracked a grin, to which Hanamaki replied with a sulky grimace. «She spent her days weaving clothes for the Gods and she worked so much that she didn't have time for herself, not even to fall in love. So her father, the Sky King, felt sorry for her and introduced her to Hikoboshi, represented by the star Altair. He was a young herdsman who was grazing his cows beyond the heavenly river, and the two fell in love at first-»

Matsukawa's heart skipped a beat when he felt Hanamaki's weight leaning on his shoulder. He looked down at him, but the latter didn't raise his gaze, still staring in front of himself with his arms crossed, his short hair touching Matsukawa's chin.

They had never been so close, so much that Matsukawa could smell his light scent.

«Why did you stop?» Hanamaki asked with a weirdly monotone voice, hastening to add, «Is this bothering you?»

How could Matsukawa tell him that that simple gesture was making his heart beat so fast that he felt like he'd just run a marathon?

«No,» he whispered, wetting his lips and clearing his voice, which came out hoarser than usual. «I was saying... the two fell in love at first sight. They were so in love with each other that, taken by passion, they spent all their time together, to the point of neglecting their work and their responsibilities. Orihime's father was angry, so he separated the two young lovers on either sides of the Heavenly River. However, their desperation moved the Sky King to compassion, and he decided that the two could only meet once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month.»

There was another awkward silence, during which neither of them moved from that position, until Hanamaki broke it with his own words.

«So you've wished that they could meet... even though they would have done it anyway.»

When Matsukawa lowered his gaze again, Hanamaki's eyes were piercing him. They were close, _too close_ , so close that the panic took over his whole body. His attention wandered for a moment on that face, _those lips_ , but he swallowed hard and went back to get lost in those eyes that were staring at him with so much intensity.

«Yeah,» he muttered, failing to not contemplate that vision.

«Do you think they'll really do it? Meet, I mean.»

When had Hanamaki's voice become a low whisper?

«I hope so.»

«I'm starting to hope for it too, you know?»

«Wasn't it just crap?»

When had everything they were talking about suddenly taken a whole new meaning?

«It still is, but I'm slightly interested now.»

«Slightly, mh?»

«Since when have those two been in love?»

From the moment Matsukawa had noticed that when he saw Hanamaki's smile, he felt his chest tighten. Since he noticed a single touch made his heart beat faster, since every time he sat on the gym floor, the need to reach and squeeze that hand so close to his own had become suffocating.

«A year.» Months filled with insecurities, silence, fear of not being reciprocated, of being wrong. A year spent fantasizing about the moment he would finally confess his feelings, getting rid of that weight that hung over his shoulders every minute he spent with the other.

«How can you be so sure?» Hanamaki smiled slyly, and Matsukawa never knew if the slight coloring on his cheeks had really been there or if he'd imagined it.

«Believe me, I know.»

For Matsukawa, in that moment, there was nothing besides Hanamaki. He felt his throat run dry, his hands tremble slightly, but he never lowered his gaze, not even when, after an endless minute of silence spent scrutinizing each other, he heard the words that finally gave him the courage to go beyond that wall that had been stopping him so far.

 

«How much longer do you want to wait for?»

 

Yeah, he'd waited for far too long, but he couldn't say that the time he'd spent hoping had been in vain. Just as he had told Oikawa, the moment Matsukawa's lips brushed against Hanamaki's was worth every moment spent wondering whether sooner or later, that dream of being able to share his feelings would become real. That brief exchange was all Matsukawa had always wanted. There was no hug, or superfluous touches; all he needed was in that light contact, a little pressure on those lips that he finally could claim as his own.

When he pulled back from that kiss, Matsukawa realized he was breathless.

«You suck at telling stories,» said Hanamaki with an apparently serious expression, but that couldn't hide the embarrassment he was feeling, evident in his every glance and insecure movement. «And your confession was awful.»

Matsukawa couldn't help but laugh, releasing some of his nervousness.

«Don't I get even a tiny merit?»

«The tanzaku was a nice move, I admit it.»

«Yours was just terrible instead.»

«I don't want to hear that from someone who planned a confession without the fireworks.» Hanamaki gently tapped his knuckles on Matsukawa's chest. «Come on, where's my cliché?»

«The fireworks show was two nights ago, I'm sorry to disappoint your expectations.»

«See, you've ruined everything.»

«Oh, you wound me.» Matsukawa chuckled. He'd never felt so happy in his entire life, and Hanamaki's funny attempts to hide the shame made him even more cheerful.

«Fireworks are an absolute must, have you ever seen a drama on TV?»

«All right, you'll get your fireworks, but not tonight, so put your mind at ease.»

Hanamaki made a bad imitation of Oikawa's offended expression and they both laughed, before a sincere smile illuminated that embarrassed face.

«Promise?»

«Promise.» Matsukawa smiled back.

«Then buy me a candy apple.»

«So demanding.»

«Did I already tell you that you suck at these things? Where's the romance?»

«Who knows.»

It was nice to finally look at Hanamaki with different eyes, knowing that the boy in front of him was no longer a mirage, but a wonderful reality. Even when Hanamaki moved his head to sit up properly again, Matsukawa didn't complain. He finally felt the abyss that had been separating them like a distant memory, that space now filled with something more than mere expectations. They had filled that distance with something new, something that made Matsukawa feel elated and happy at last. Every barrier had been broken, every wall had been knocked down, just as Orihime and Hikoboshi had done in that old story.

Hanamaki had asked him whether the two lovers would meet again that night. Although Matsukawa's wish had had a double meaning, he was convinced that this encounter had really happened, that over the banks of the Heavenly River the two lovers were again reunited in a long-awaited hug. He was certain of it the moment his fingers touched Hanamaki's to intertwine in a light hold, while the other nodded to Oikawa and Iwaizumi who had just returned. A sweet and firm grip, which meant only one thing.

_I'm finally here with you._


End file.
